"Child, your sins are forgiven."

In last Sunday’s Gospel reading we had the story of the healing of the
leper and we reflected on the fact that, in its consequences, sin is a
sort of leprosy. In the Gospel story set before us this Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012, we see something similar. Here sin is clearly compared to paralysis. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Four

"If you wish, you can make me clean."

Christians often are confused about suffering. Is it ever good for us?
Is it always good for us? Should we feel guilty about wanting to be rid
of it? In the Sunday Gospel for Feb. 12, 2012, the story of Jesus and the leper, we find answers to these questions. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.



Dealing with Suffering



Jewish

“What are you looking for?”

In this Sunday's Readings - Second Sunday In Ordinary Time (2B), January 15, 2012 - John the Baptist looks hard at Jesus and says, ‘Look there is the Lamb
of God.’ The two disciples with him immediately follow Jesus. Our
Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Behold the Lamb of God

At
the beginning of Advent we received a beautiful

"Be watchful! Be alert!"

Because it is Thanksgiving weekend, I'm busy preparing Thanksgiving
dinner for my family while multi-tasking this week's homiletics email
for you. So we hope you understand why you're receiving a truncated
version of your Catholic Living Today.

This Sunday we celebrate the First Sunday in Advent.
This marks the beginning of a new church year: the liturgical
actualization for us of

"He will sit upon his glorious throne"

This Sunday, November 20, 2011, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King.
This is the Last Sunday of the Church Year. Through this feast the
church is saying that all of our celebrations can be summed up in one
statement: Jesus is our King, we serve him. Our Discussion Questions
will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Universal King

But
who

"Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Jesus has some words this Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, about investing what we receive. He tells the famous parable of the talents.
The man who receives five talents, put them to work and made an
additional five. The second receives two and makes two more. But the man
who receives one talent, buries it. Jesus calls him "wicked" and
"lazy." Our Discussion Questions will

"Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

In Sunday’s Gospel for Nov. 6, 2011 - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew’s recount of the 10 virgins
sits amidst numerous parables about the heavenly kingdom. In fact, all
three of the readings today are end-of-times in nature. Our Discussion
Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

In the course of the liturgical year have worked our way

"Call no one on earth your father"

This Sunday's Gospel narrative
- for Oct. 30, 2011, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - reminds us that holding a position of power in religion appears to be
particularly vulnerable to self-exaltation and abuse. It is a strong
invitation and challenge to render humble, selfless, diligent, committed
and loving service to others in the community without expecting honor
or rewards. Our Discussion

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

Sunday’s Gospel Reading
- for October 23, 2011 - revolves around the question: “Which commandment of the Law is the
greatest?” Another way to put this question is to ask, “What do I need
to do to achieve salvation?” Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.



In
the Sunday Gospel according to St. Matthew we encounter Christ in

"Many are invited, but few are chosen."

This Sunday, October 9, 2011, the Church presents for our consideration the wonderful parable of the royal wedding banquet. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study with family, friends and church groups.

Invite Everyone to the Banquet

The
message of this parable of the royal wedding banquet is clear. God
invites the people of Israel to his wedding banquet in heaven but

"Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you."

The Parable of the Two Sons
for Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011, which is unique to the Gospel of Matthew is probably one of the most
easily understandable of all the parables of Jesus. It describes a
situation we can all identify with and one that we surely all have
experienced. Some call this four verse parable the Better of Two Bad
Sons. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible

"If your brother sins against you..."

Our Gospel this Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time), is taken from a section of St Matthew’s Gospel in which he considers forgiveness in the community and how to deal with sinners. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

A Brother Who Has Sinned

Matthew
adapts sayings of the historical Jesus to address the

"Upon this rock I will build my church."

This Sunday, August 21, 2011 is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary time. And we consider a Gospel text that is crucial to the Church’s understanding of itself. The words of Jesus addressed to Peter, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church." Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

"But who do you say that I am?"

"O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

In Sunday's Gospel passage for August 7, 2011, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, while his disciples depart in a boat, Jesus goes up on a mountain by himself to pray. When a storm arises during the night, Jesus comes toward the boat walking on the water. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

Where is God?

Life as an

"Whoever has ears ought to hear."

This Sunday's Parable of the Sower for July 10, 2011 - 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

To respond to this parable adequately, we must view it from two different angles.

"For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

The words of the Gospel this Sunday, July 3, 2011, are wonderfully comforting; they express the compassion of Christ not only for those who suffer or are crushed by the heavy loads of life, but also to the child-like, the innocent and the trusting. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

Come to me, all you who labor and

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life"

This Sunday, June 26, 2011, is Corpus Christi Sunday, a capstone of all the celebrations since Holy Week. It gives us the one very important matter that still needs to come before us: the sacrament of the Eucharist. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

The Church situates this Sunday's feast immediately after the

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son"

This Sunday - June 19, 2011 - we celebrate the solemnity of the Blessed Trinity. The Triune nature of God is the principal mystery of the Catholic faith. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

The Very Mystery of God

What we know about God is not made up, not a fable invented by our ancestors. What we know about God is

“Receive the Holy Spirit."

This Sunday, June 12, 2011,  we celebrate Pentecost, the 50th day that signals the start of the universal mission of the Church -- a mission that overcomes human obstacles and has the Spirit as its driving force. Our Discussion Questions will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.

"Receive the Holy Spirit."

Pentecost is not just another Sunday. Fr.

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations"

The Feast of the Ascension has got to be one of the most dramatic in the liturgical year. Not perhaps very dramatic in its liturgy which is the same as any other Sunday; but dramatic in what it is all about: the lifting up of the Risen Jesus to his place in heaven. Our Discussion Questions for June 5, 2011 will guide your Sunday Bible Study sessions with family, friends and church groups.